


One O'Clock

by hunters_retreat



Series: The Clock Verse [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dean goes to Stanford with Sam, M/M, Stanford Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-11-09
Updated: 2008-11-09
Packaged: 2018-09-15 02:52:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9215492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunters_retreat/pseuds/hunters_retreat
Summary: Sam tells his father he's going to Stanford, but something unexpected happens.  John forces Dean's hand.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is more a 'verse than a series.  It will tell of the brother's time together out from under John's wing.  Not sure where this will end up and who will be making appearances.  And I would also say because of that this will contain spoilers for all episodes (just so I don't have to worry about it later :P)

 

 

Sam wasn’t sure what to think as Dean rounded on him.  He was face to face with his father one minute telling him he was leaving for Stanford, no matter what the old man said, and the next Dean was between them, a place he’d consciously been staying away from, and pushing Sam backwards.

 

 

“That’s enough Sam.  You made your point.”

 

 

“What point is that Dean?”  John asked from behind them and Sam watched Dean’s eyes harden.

 

 

Dean took a deep breath and Sam had no idea what to expect just then.  Somehow he’d try to make it all better, keep the peace between father and son because it’s what Dean always did.  Sam had no idea how Dean thought that was possible though.  Sam had waited to the last minute for a reason.  They both knew John could be pretty underhanded and he wasn’t above finding a way to remove Sam’s chance at college.  He had enough contacts that given enough time, could find a way to make a computer glitch erase Sam’s information or scholarships.  Which was why he still hadn’t mentioned the scholarship to John. 

 

 

“The point is that you aren’t going to let Sam go and Sam isn’t going to take no for an answer.”  Dean said, facing their father now.

 

 

“He damn well better.”

 

 

“Or what Dad?”  Sam asked, his chest pressed suddenly against Dean’s back as his brother anticipated his step forward.  “You gonna chain me up?  Because that’s what you’re gonna have to do.  I’m not going to stay here and be your good little soldier anymore.  I want out of this life and I found my way out.  You can’t stop me.”

 

 

“I said that’s enough Sam.”  Dean looked over his shoulder but he didn’t spare much more than a glance.  It told Sam clear enough that Dean thought their father was prone to violence on this matter and though Sam wanted to push further, it wasn’t Sam that would be left to deal with the consequences. 

 

 

“You want to go so bad Sam?”  John’s scorn was evident on his face, on the way it dripped venom from his glare.  “You’re right I can’t stop you.  I thought I taught you enough loyalty to see this thing through.  Thought you’d want to get revenge on the thing that destroyed our family, but I guess I was wrong about that, wrong about what you’d do for the people you love.”

 

 

Sam was stunned by the words, by the implication that his father thought he should kill for the people he loved and by the realization that his father honestly believed that Sam needed to prove his love with a weapon.  “Guess you were.”

 

 

“Get out!”  His father railed.  “You get out then Sam, but once you’re gone, don’t come back.”

 

 

Sam took a step back, the last words a physical blow he hadn’t expected, hadn’t had time to duck from.  He’d always known his father would take it badly, but to tell him not to come back?  He could do it, he knew.  He could walk out and never see his father even if it would hurt.  But could he walk out, knowing Dean would always do what John wanted?  Knowing it meant he wasn’t welcome to see his big brother again?

 

 

“Dad, you don’t mean that.”  Dean’s voice sounded as broken as Sam felt. 

 

 

“Like Hell I don’t.  You’ve been looking after him for years and this is how he repays you?”  John said.  Sam could see Dean’s body shaking in repressed emotion, only he couldn’t figure out which.  “I mean every word Dean.  He goes now, and we write him off completely.”

 

 

“Dad…”

 

 

Sam was too bewildered to speak and he stared at his father, the man who had poisoned everything good that had ever come his way.  He was doing it now with Dean and he couldn’t think of a way to stop it.  He opened his mouth and stopped as Dean spun around on him.  “Get your things Sammy.  Get them in the car.  It’s time to go before anyone else does anything stupid.”

 

 

He didn’t argue, just moved past Dean to the other room where his bags were already packed.  Dean kept between him and his Dad as Sam pushed past the screen door and into the waiting night.  He threw his bags down outside the trunk of the car and got in the passenger seat, wishing he’d grabbed the keys from Dean on the way out.  He’d never think of taking the Impala from his brother, but he had a fair amount of fear about what was happening in the house right now.  It might be cowardly, but he was letting Dean handle whatever it was though.  If it was the last interaction he had with his brother, he would at least let him be the hero again tonight.  And make sure he knew that Sam still thought of him like that also.

 

 

He heard the screen door slam shut and looked back, seeing his father’s figure outlined in the doorway, face soothing over his jaw.  A fight?  Had Dean actually hit their father?  The trunk was opened then and he couldn’t see anything so he turned around and let his hands sooth the front pocket of his jacket where his important paperwork was. 

 

 

When the door to the car opened he looked at Dean, blood dripping slowly from his nose.  “Jesus, Dean…” 

 

 

He opened the glove compartment and found a supply of fast food napkins there and handed a few to Dean.  “What happened?”

 

 

Dean took the napkins and slammed the door shut, a show of temper that meant more than just about anything he could say.  No one abused his baby without his wrath and if he was doing it himself, there was a lot more going on than a fight for the ride to the bus station.

 

 

“Just… let it go Sammy.”  He looked at him as he turned the key.  “For a few minutes, just let it go.”

 

 

He did as his brother asked, but it was almost painful to do so.  There were so many things he wanted to tell Dean if this was their last time together for a while and yet he knew it was nothing Dean wanted to hear.  He knew his brother as well as he knew himself and the only reason he hadn’t confirmed his college admission with Dean was because he knew Dean was hopeless at keeping things from Dad.  He knew Dean had figured it out already.  His lack of surprise tonight showed him he was right, but he hoped Dean wasn’t holding it against him.  As well as he knew him, sometimes Dean’s take on the world was twisted enough to keep him guessing.

 

 

They were passing the bus station when Sam looked away from the window and at his brother again.  “You just missed the bus station Dean.”

 

 

“Not going to the bus station Sam.”  He said with a resignation that made Sam shiver.

 

 

“Where are we going then?”

 

 

“And they thought you were the smart one…” Dean said with a long suffering sigh.  “Stanford, right?”

 

 

Sam nodded.  “You didn’t have to drive me there Dean.  It’s not worth a fight with Dad to drive me there.”

 

 

“Not driving you Sammy.  We’re going to Stanford.”

 

 

Sam’s mouth dropped open.  He knew what Dean meant, knew it without a doubt and had absolutely no idea how to process that.  “Dean…”

 

 

“You didn’t expect me to just sit there did you Sam?”  He asked as he drove. 

 

 

It was easier for him this way, Sam knew.  Easier to talk about what mattered while he was driving and didn’t have to look you in the eye, could distract himself with the feel of the wheel in his hands or the road under the wheels. 

 

 

“I could let you walk out the door and go Sammy.  I could have let you walk away and not come back to the hunt.  But I couldn’t let you walk out on our family.”

 

 

Sam sighed.  “I wasn’t walking out on you and Dad, Dean.  That’s not what I wanted.”

 

 

Dean let out a heavy breath.  “I know.  You didn’t make this choice Sam, he did.  He was right though.  All those years of taking care of you and that was what I get for it?  Did he think I’d loved you all those years, been everything he should have been, to watch him force you away now?  That’s bullshit.  He didn’t get to decide that for me.  Or for you.  So I’m going with you to Stanford Sammy.  If you don’t want me there, you’ve got a few days to tell me, but I’m not going back.  You’re my family Sammy, you have been since he put your in my arms and never picked you back up out of ‘em.”

 

 

Sam swallowed against the lump in his throat.  He reached a hand over to his brother, clutching his knee as he leaned against his shoulder the way he used to as a kid.  “Just you and me Dean?  Ain’t nothing in the world can stop us.” He finally said.  He felt his brother’s head lean into his lightly, the faint touch of lips that might have been kissing the top of his head that they’d neither one admit made them feel better. 

 

 

“Yeah Sammy.  You and me and Stanford.  They’d better watch out.”

 

 

Sam took a deep breath and closed his eyes.  It was one o’clock in the morning.  One o’ clock and somehow that seemed important.  It was a new day and though his night had been rocky as hell, the new day began with he and Dean, on the road and it was everything it was supposed to be.  They were everything they had now and all was right with the world, because Dean was Sam’s world and Sam was Dean’s world and there was no one else to get in the way of that now.  Yeah, Stanford better watch out.  The Winchester brothers were on their way.

 

 


End file.
